Trailer for “The Sadist” (1963)

This real-time 95-minute thriller predates more familiar and famous “we’re city folk and our car broke down in dusty Hicksville” films like …1000 Corpses, Kalifornia and The Hills Have Eyes, and manages to be extremely effective without the latters’ outrageous gore.

I’ve sat through hundreds of movies, so I was surprised at myself when I finally saw The Sadist a couple of years ago and found myself literally on the edge of my seat, holding my breath. No wonder: today, I learned from Joe Dante’s voiceover that the actors were firing live ammunition during some of the shootouts!